Philadelphia museum workers ready to join ranks of striking unions

There can be no doubt that Philly is a union town! The essential city workers of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 33 are doubling down against Mayor Cherelle Parker. In a historic strike, the first in almost 40 years, D.C. 33 has shut down the city during the major Fourth of July weekend. 

Beyond that, another union is flexing its muscles against the bosses and interfering with business as usual. 

The Penn Museum, operated by the University of Pennsylvania, has had its reputation tarnished lately with the discovery that they were holding some of the remains of children murdered during the city’s bombing of the MOVE family in 1985. Penn’s reputation has also suffered from the crackdown on the pro-Palestine student encampment last summer. 

Now the staff at the museum, members of Philly Cultural Workers United, are tired of Penn dragging its feet. Their contract with the museum expired in June. Philly CWU, part of AFSCME Local 397, held a protest in front of the museum on the popular “Free Museum Day” when Philly area museums waive entry fees. 

Workers handed out flyers and explained their demand for improved wages. The university’s annual operating budget is a whopping $4.7 billion. The Penn museum’s unacceptable pay increase proposal would amount to 0.01% of that. 

Members of the public who were at the museum on Free Museum Day and learned about the labor dispute were overwhelmingly supportive of the workers. This month, members of Philly CWU voted unanimously to authorize a strike. In a statement on Instagram, the union states: “This strike authorization paves the way for Penn workers to join the 10,000 DC33 workers currently on strike in Philadelphia. Philly CWU stands with DC33. The working people of Philadelphia deserve more than the crumbs Mayor Parker and Penn are putting on the table.”

(tinyurl.com/ypd7sptj)

Aramark workers at Boston’s Fenway Park

Aramark workers at the Fenway Park baseball stadium in Boston are asking fans to skip buying the “peanuts and Cracker Jacks” — and all food and beverages — this summer in support of a potential strike by concessions workers. The workers, members of UNITE HERE Local 26, authorized a strike in June.

There hasn’t been a work stoppage at the stadium in its 113 year history. However, a union representative stated: “Fenway workers are paid considerably less than workers in similar stadium jobs in less expensive locales. A cashier earns $18.52 an hour at Fenway and $21.25 an hour at Marlins Park in Miami.

Meanwhile, a beer costs $10.79 at Fenway and $5.14 at Marlins Park.” (tinyurl.com/453f6fvx) 

Fenway Park union member Malcolm Powell stated, “After 20 years in the park, I deserve to get paid more than peanuts!” (tinyurl.com/4mzyvth6)

Farmworkers union fights back

The United Farm Workers union is joining other organizations and individuals in a lawsuit filed against the Department of Homeland Security. The government agency goons have made illegal arrests, confined detainees under illegal conditions and denied access to attorneys. This is in clear violation of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution. 

“The raids in Southern California have been both urban and rural. We’ve seen Border Patrol agents chasing down farmworkers in the fields of Ventura County,” said UFW President Teresa Romero. “Now the workers who feed America go to work in fear. Their children are terrified, wondering if their parents will come home. Farmworkers deserve better — we’ve seen these unconstitutional and un-American tactics before, with Border Patrol targeting random farmworkers and anyone with brown skin in Kern County during their large sweep in January. We sued then, and we are suing now.” (ufw.org)

 The UFW plans to launch a strike very soon against low wages, poor working conditions and deportations.